The Detective's Notebook

An exciting development

Firstly, I would like to thank you all for your continuing support for my newsletter, which I very much appreciate – I absolutely love sharing my investigative work with you!

After 18 months since finishing my PhD and starting my Substack, I’ve decided it’s time for a refresh and, after some figurative spring cleaning (although I have rearranged my office bookshelves recently!), I would like to pursue my ‘detective work’ more rigorously and I’m changing the name of my newsletter to reflect this.

I will continue to explore broadly the same topics: the history of detectives, forensic science and true crime, but with emphasis on the sleuthing skills of the investigators of the past, which will include greater analysis of historical crime cases, a more detailed examination of forensic science techniques and their application, and unique accounts of the pioneering work of individual Victorian and Edwardian detectives. I’ll be sharing my findings from my doctoral research into historical investigative practice, as well as updates from my current projects.

You will receive the same number of newsletters as before – two a month for all subscribers, with an additional two a month for paid subscriptions – but you will receive them in two batches during the same week, usually during the first and third week of the month, which will allow for more reading (and writing!) time between topics.

Paid subscriptions will have exclusive access to The Confidential Files, which will include:

• A deeper analysis of key crime cases, records, and the individuals involved

• Real-life examination of historical crime scenes

• Transcriptions of original documents, and their historical impact

• More detailed background information on specific crimes and their investigation, and the forensic science techniques used

• ‘How to’ guides on related topics such as accessing key documents, tracking offenders and building historical cases

• In-depth profiles of key individuals in crime and detective history, including law enforcers and expert witnesses

Your first newsletter from The Detective’s Notebook will arrive on Monday 7 July. In the meantime, the comments on this post are open for questions and feedback etc. And, do let me know about any specific content you’d be interested in reading more about too – I’m always happy to examine new topics!

I can’t wait to share my new research with you as I continue to follow in the shadowy footsteps of the detectives of the past…

Proof that I did spring clean my bookshelves!

The changes to my newsletter website will be taking place over the next few days. The links to previous posts will also change but they will remain available as before.